This section is part of a full New Victory® School ToolTM Resource Guide. For
the complete guide, including information about the New Victory Education
Department check out: newvictoryschooltools.org
®
before | I, MALVOLIO
INSIDE
EN ROUTE
AFTER
BEYOND
BEFORE
Malvolio’s World: Group Picture•
Malvolio’s World: Scrapbook
•
Twelfth Night in an Nutshell
WHAT IS “BEFORE” I, MALVOLIO?
BEFORE provides teachers engaging, ready-to-implement
classroom activities that explore the themes and art form of the
show prior to travelling to 42nd Street. Utilize this tool in order
to integrate the content of the production into your curriculum in
a hands-on experiential way, while building student anticipation
and overall impact for the upcoming performance. This section also
includes Creativity Pages that provide students the opportunity to
personally connect to the show content.
Photos: Matthew Andrews
MAKING CONNECTIONS TO LEARNING STANDARDS
New Victory School Tool Resource Guides align with the Common Core State Standards, New York State Learning Standards and New York City
Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the Arts. We believe that these standards support both the high quality instruction and deep engagement
that The New Victory Theater strives to achieve in its arts education practice.
COMMON CORE
Reading: Standard 3
Writing: Standard 3; Standard 4
Speaking and Listening: Standard 1;
Standard 2; Standard 5
Language: Standard 1; Standard 2;
Standard 3
The New VICTORY® THEATER / NEWVICTORYSCHOOLTOOLS.ORG
NEW YORK STATE STANDARDS
BLUEPRINT FOR THE ARTS
The Arts: Standard 1; Standard 4
English Language Arts:
Standard 1; Standard 4
Theater: Theater Making; Developing
Theater Literacy; Making Connections
© The New 42nd Street, Inc.
8
before | I, MALVOLIO
INSIDE
EN ROUTE
AFTER
BEYOND
BEFORE
Malvolio’s World: Group Picture•
MALVOLIO’S WORLD
Malvolio’s World: Scrapbook
•
Twelfth Night in an Nutshell
In this series of activities, your students will get a chance to explore the characters
and plot of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night in advance of seeing Tim Crouch’s retelling
of the story from Malvolio’s perspective.
Read the TWELFTH NIGHT IN A NUTSHELL synopsis (on Page 11) with your
students. (If you read Shakespeare’s full Twelfth Night with your students, use the
original text in place of the provided synopsis for this activity.)
ACTIVITY 1: GROUP PICTURE
1. Review the list of characters with the students. Brainstorm a list of
adjectives they associate with each character.
2. D
ivide students into groups. Assign one student in each group the
role of the sculptor, while the rest of the group takes on the role of the
“clay.” The sculptor’s task is to create a family portrait out of the “clay,”
sculpting each character from Twelfth Night. Ask the sculptor to keep
the status of these characters in mind (e.g. Where would they stand in
relation to each other? What do their facial expressions suggest? How
high up or low to the ground would they be?).
3. Once the portraits are complete, ask each group to share their picture,
one at a time, for the others to see.
4. Lead the class in a discussion about their creations: How were the
pictures different? What did you notice about the your classmates’
choices? What do the pictures tell you about the power dynamics and
status of the characters in Twelfth Night?
Photos: Matthew Andrews
The New VICTORY® THEATER / NEWVICTORYSCHOOLTOOLS.ORG
© The New 42nd Street, Inc.
9
before | I, MALVOLIO
INSIDE
EN ROUTE
AFTER
BEYOND
BEFORE
Malvolio’s World: Group Picture•
MALVOLIO’S WORLD
Malvolio’s World: Scrapbook
•
Twelfth Night in an Nutshell
In this series of activities, your students will get a chance to explore the characters
and plot of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night in advance of seeing Tim Crouch’s retelling
of the story from Malvolio’s perspective.
Read the TWELFTH NIGHT IN A NUTSHELL synopsis (on Page 11) with your
students. (If you read Shakespeare’s full Twelfth Night with your students, use the
original text in place of the provided synopsis for this activity.)
ACTIVITY 2: SCRAPBOOK
EXTENSION WRITING ACTIVITY:
Ask each student to choose a character from
the synopsis who they are most interested
in exploring further. Instruct the students to
write a letter from this character to another,
written in the first person. They can reference
the synopsis, but they may also invent details
from their own imaginations to fill out the
story. Finally, pair students up or put them
in small groups and ask them to read their
letters aloud to each other.
1. A s a full class or in small groups, brainstorm a list of the five most exciting or
interesting moments or events from the story synopsis.
2. Imagine each of these events as photographs. Create captions to describe
each image. (e.g. ‘Viola and Sebastian’s ship is wrecked by the storm’).
3. Divide the students into five groups. Assign each group one of the events
from the list.
4. A sk groups to brainstorm what would be in the photograph of the event.
5. Instruct each group to create the ‘photograph’ of the event with their bodies
as they imagine it.
6. Once the groups have created their physical images, sequence them and
present them in order.
7. Lead the class in a discussion about their images: What interesting choices
did the groups make? Were you able to understand the whole story from the
different images? What stood out to you?
8. Now, discuss how the story might look through Malvolio’s eyes. How
would the photographs change? Would the characters look any different, or
would the situations change based on Malvolio’s experience of the events?
The New VICTORY® THEATER / NEWVICTORYSCHOOLTOOLS.ORG
© The New 42nd Street, Inc.
10
© The New 42nd Street, Inc.
®
CrEATIVITY PAGE: TWELFTH NIGHT IN A NUTSHELL
Once upon a time, in the kingdom of Illyria…
The Duke ORSINO
A Lady OLIVIA. OLIVIA does not
ORSINO. ORSINO is sad.
(carrying brother and sister VIOLA and SEBASTIAN)
comes through, and a
is swept to the shore of Illyria.
VIOLA survives the ! She believes her brother SEBASTIAN has died.
VIOLA dresses as a man, and disguises herself using the name “CESARIO.”
“CESARIO” gets a job as the servant of ORSINO.
Soon…
“CESARIO” falls in
with ORSINO, and OLIVIA falls in
thinks that “CESARIO” is a man!
with “CESARIO” – and everyone still
Meanwhile…
Everyone hates MALVOLIO, who tries to keep order as the steward of OLIVIA’s .
TOBY BELCH (OLIVIA’s uncle) and his mischievous friends (MARIA, ANDREW, and FESTE) decide to prank
MALVOLIO by writing a fake to him. They pretend the is written by OLIVIA, asking
MALVOLIO to prove his love to her by doing some crazy things like wearing around town.
The prank works - MALVOLIO acts like a madman hoping it will win over OLIVIA, and instead everyone thinks
he’s crazy, and they lock him up!
Suddenly…
?) and falls in love with OLIVIA. She thinks
SEBASTIAN returns (…remember the SEBASTIAN is “CESARIO” (because SEBASTIAN looks a lot like his sister VIOLIA – who is still disguised as
“CESARIO”).
Finally…
SEBASTIAN and his sister are reunited, and VIOLA reveals her true identity.
Then, everyone gets married.
SEBASTIAN
OLIVIA, ORSINO VIOLA, and even TOBY BELCH MARIA.
They let Malvolio out of the madhouse and reveal the prank that was played on him.
Everyone lives happily ever after…
…except Malvolio who vows revenge as everyone celebrates!
The play I, MALVOLIO tells the story of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night from the perspective of Malvolio. How do you think he’ll tell this story?